An accreditor put North Idaho College on probation for one year on Monday to finish resolving a handful of issues before returning to full compliance.

The Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities found that NIC is in a “position to remedy remaining non-compliant issues” within one year.

The finding is a step forward from the brink of losing accreditation for the Coeur d’Alene college that has been on show cause status, the final step before losing accreditation, for two years.

NIC President Nick Swayne said he is “absolutely” confident the college can resolve the remaining issues in the next year.

“I was very hopeful that they would recognize the progress that we had made and that we really had substantially addressed all of the issues, all recommendations, they had made over the years,” Swayne said. “We addressed them but I think they need to see that the change is going to stick and be sustainable.”

The commission found that NIC is out of compliance on three accreditation standards:

• The board of trustees must resolve the issues underpinning votes of no confidence and provide evident that they are willing to work with and support faculty staff and students.
• The board of trustees must adhere to institutional and board policies, particularly those pertaining to the appropriate roles and responsibilities, expectations, professional conduct and ethics and grievance procedures.
• The board and college president should ensure they adhere to the inclusivity articulated in the college’s planning and decision-making process. They should create an environment that is respectful of meaningful discourse.

The NWCCU issued an extension to come into compliance with the standards because NIC has made “significant progress” in resolving the issues and has a reasonable plan for coming into compliance.

The commission found that student learning is not compromised by these issues.

Swayne noted that the college had been in good shape to get off probationary status before the prior board majority, backed by the Kootenai County Central Republican Committee, hired a controversial attorney and put him on administrative leave in December 2022.

“That one month of actions by the board is what has caused us to go elevated to show cause,” Swayne said. “We’ve been sitting there trying to work off all of those bad actions of the board up until this point. So going back on probation, while I’d like to be back in good standing, being back in probation is a recognition of just how much damage they did in the month of December 2022.”

The commission also found two areas that were substantially in compliance but need improvement:

• NIC still needs to take further action to improve retention of existing employees and maintain adequate staffing to ensure the integrity and continuity of programs.
• The college president, leadership, and trustees need to adjust their business model to ensure long-term financial sustainability.

The findings mirrored that of the commission’s report on an October campus visit. While a new slate of trustees was elected in November, they met just four times before presenting to the commission last month.

At their first meeting, the trustees placed all the remaining accreditation issues on the agenda but noted it would take time to resolve some, like balancing a budget, building community trust, and increasing retention.

Swayne said it will take time to rebuild trust with faculty and staff but those conversations have already begun plus the new board is unlikely to cause further issues.

“I can’t imagine this board doing anything that would insight that kind of response from faculty and students,” Swayne said.

In December, trustees cut NIC’s golf teams to get the budget back in alignment with future budgetary cuts planned across all sports.

The college has been “very frugal” this year, Swayne said. He hopes they won’t have to use the $5.2 million budgeted out of the college’s savings.

“I think we can show that we really live within our budget,” Swayne said.

Overall, Swayne is confident the remaining five issues can be resolved quickly.

“They’re going to take hard work, but they’re easily addressable with this board and the time allowed,” he said.

NIC must prove they’ve addressed those issues during a mid-cycle report and visit in October 2025.